November 3, 2022 Dear John, New York recently became one of the only states, along with Hawaii, to create an Office of Language Access to oversee state agencies’ provision of services to Limited English Proficient (LEP) individuals. Even before this, the New York Department of State developed an innovative practice of using program-level Language Access Liaisons to help ensure language access across the department’s many services and diverse constituencies. A new Practitioner’s Corner by two senior leaders with the Office for New Americans within the New York Department of State details the state’s language access policies and examines the department’s innovative use of Language Access Liaisons, who work with the Department of State’s Language Access Coordinator and team. With the Department of State’s divisions responsible for functions as varied as overseeing mixed martial arts matches, licensing nail salons, and regulating cemeteries, it is essential that each division’s approach to language access be customized to its own services while maintaining common standards across the department, write Jenny Munoz and Laura V. González-Murphy. Munoz is Senior Manager for Policy and Strategic Partnerships for the Office for New Americans and Deputy Language Access Coordinator for the Department of State; González-Murphy is Executive Director of the Office for New Americans and the Language Access Coordinator for the Department of State. “While two divisions may have similar missions, the services they provide may be very different and ever changing to reflect the needs of their clients,” they write. “Monitoring this multiplicity of services, missions and goals, and the needs of their clients, can be challenging, especially when it comes to ensuring language access.” Using a model of Language Access Liaisons in various departmental divisions and offices allows the Language Access Coordinator and team to communicate and train the divisions on accessing language services more efficiently and developing practices on language access best suited for their programs. Munoz and González-Murphy detail the liaisons’ responsibilities and their coordination with the Language Access Coordinator team. Read the Practitioner’s Corner here: www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/language-access-liaisons. For a recent report on the key features of language access laws and policies across the United States, see: www.migrationpolicy.org/research/state-local-language-access-policies. And for all of MPI’s language access work, visit: www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/language-access-translation-and-interpretation-policies-and-practices. Best regards, | 
